Duchy of Ferrara
Fief of the Papacy
← 1264 - 1597 →
Coat of arms
Territories of the House of Este in 1494 (shown in canary yellow)
Capital	Ferrara
Government	Monarchy
History
- Obizzo II d'Este becomes ruler	1264
- Modena and Reggio become Duchies	1452
- Ferrara made into Duchy	1471
- House of Este lose Ferrara to Papacy	1597

The Duchy of Ferrara is a former sovereign state of northern Italy.

Obizzo II d'Este was proclaimed lifelong ruler of Ferrara in 1264. He also became seignior of nearby Modena in 1288 and of Reggio in 1289. In 1452 the Este rulers were created Dukes of Modena and Reggio, and in 1471 Ferrara also became a duchy.

In 1597, when Alfonso II died without heirs, the House of Este lost Ferrara to the Papal States, but they retained Modena and Reggio until 1796, apart from short interludes.

Este Lords of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio[link]

• Obizzo II d'Este 1264–1293
• Azzo VIII 1293–1308
• Aldobrandino II 1308–1326
• Obizzo III 1317–1352
• Niccolò I 1317–1335
• Aldobrandino III 1335–1361
• Niccolò II 1361–1388
• Alberto 1388–1393
• Niccolò III 1393–1441
• Leonello 1441–1450

Este Dukes of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio[link]

• Borso 1450-1471 (Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1452, Duke of Ferrara from 1471)
• Ercole I 1471-1505
• Alfonso I 1505-1534
• Ercole II 1534-1559
• Alfonso II 1559-1597
  • 1597-: to the Papal States

See also[link]

• Ferrara
• House of Este
• Historical states of Italy
• Holy Roman Empire

Sources[link]

• Trevor Dean, Land and Power in Late Medieval Ferrara: The Rule of the Este, 1350-1450.(Cambridge University Press) 1987.
• Cecily Booth, Cosimo I - Duke Of Florence, 1921, University Press

External links[link]

• Il Castello Estense: genealogical tree

Ferrara
—  Comune  —
Comune di Ferrara
The Castle Estense
Coat of arms
Location in the Province of Ferrara
Ferrara Location of Ferrara in Italy
Coordinates: 44°50′N 11°37′E / 44.833°N 11.617°E / 44.833; 11.617Coordinates: 44°50′N 11°37′E / 44.833°N 11.617°E / 44.833; 11.617
Country	Italy
Region	Emilia-Romagna
Province	Ferrara (FE)
Frazioni	Aguscello, Albarea, Baura, Boara, Borgo Scoline, Bova, Casaglia, Cassana, Castel Trivellino, Chiesuol del Fosso, Cocomaro di Cona, Cocomaro di Focomorto, Codrea, Cona, Contrapò, Corlo, Correggio, Denore, Focomorto, Francolino, Gaibana, Gaibanella, Sant'Egidio, Malborghetto di Boara, Malborghetto di Correggio, Marrara, Mezzavia, Monestirolo, Montalbano, Parasacco, Pescara, Pontegradella, Pontelagoscuro, Ponte Travagli, Porotto, Porporana, Quartesana, Ravalle, Sabbioni, San Bartolomeo in Bosco, San Martino, Spinazzino, Torre della Fossa, Uccellino, Viconovo, Villanova
Government
• Mayor	Tiziano Tagliani (Democratic Party)
Area
• Total	404.36 km2 (156.12 sq mi)
Elevation	9 m (30 ft)
Population (30 November 2008)
• Total	134,425
• Density	330/km2 (860/sq mi)
Demonym	Ferraresi
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	44121 to 44124
Dialing code	0532
Patron saint	St. George
Saint day	April 23
Website	Official website

Ferrara  listen (help·info) is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north. The town has broad streets and numerous palaces dating from the 14th century and 15th century, when it hosted the court of the House of Este. For its beauty and cultural importance it has been qualified by UNESCO as World Heritage Site. Modern times have brought a renewal of industrial activity. Ferrara is on the main rail line from Bologna to Padua and Venice, and has branches to Ravenna, Poggio Rusco (for Suzzara) and Codigoro. In 2006, due to its important historical significance, Ferrara became the headquarters of the Italian Hermitage Museum. It is the fifth city in the world to have been linked with the Russian museum. From this union was born the Hermitage-Italy Foundation.^[1]

History[link]

Middle Ages[link]

Ferrara, walled and moated, ca 1600.

Ferrara City Hall.

The origin of Ferrara is uncertain, it was probably settled by the inhabitants of the lagoons at the mouth of Po river; there are two early centers of settlement, one round the cathedral,^[2] the other, the castrum bizantino, being the San Pietro district, on the opposite shore, where the Primaro empties into the Volano channel. Ferrara appears first in a document of the Lombard king Desiderius of 753 AD,^[3] as a city forming part of the Exarchate of Ravenna. Desiderius pledged a Lombard ducatus ferrariae ("Duchy of Ferrara") in 757 to Pope Stephen II. After 984 it was a fief of Tedaldo, count of Modena and Canossa, nephew of the emperor Otto I. It afterwards made itself independent, and in 1101 was taken by siege by the countess Matilda. At this time it was mainly dominated by several great families, among them the prominent Adelardi (or Aleardi) family.

In 1146, Guglielmo II of Adelardi, the last of the House of Adelardi, died, and his property passed, as the dowry of his niece the Marchesella, to Obizzo I of Este. There was considerable hostility between the newly entered family and the prominent Salinguerra family, but after considerable struggles Azzo VII of Este was nominated perpetual podestà in 1242; in 1259 he took Ezzelino of Verona prisoner in battle. His grandson, Obizzo II (1264–1293), succeeded him, and he was made perpetual lord of the city by the population. The House of Este was from henceforth settled in Ferrara. In 1289 he was also chosen as lord of Modena, one year later he was made lord of Reggio. Niccolò III (1393–1441) received several popes with great magnificence, especially Eugene IV, who held a council here in 1438. His son Borso received the title of duke for the imperial fiefs of Modena and Reggio from Emperor Frederick III in 1452 (in which year Girolamo Savonarola was born here), and in 1471 was made duke of Ferrara by Pope Paul II. Ercole I (1471–1505) carried on a war with Venice and increased the magnificence of the city.

Renaissance[link]

Portrait of a Woman by Bartolomeo Veneto, traditionally assumed to be Lucrezia Borgia.

During the reign of Ercole d'Este I, one of the most significant patrons of the arts in late 15th and early 16th century Italy after the Medici, Ferrara grew into a cultural center, renowned for music as well as for visual arts. The painters established links with Flemish artists and their techniques, exchanging influences in the colors and composition choices. Composers came to Ferrara from many parts of Europe, especially France and Flanders; Josquin Des Prez worked for Duke Ercole for a time (producing the Missa Hercules dux Ferrariæ, which he wrote for him); Jacob Obrecht came to Ferrara twice (and died during an outbreak of plague there in 1505); and Antoine Brumel served as principal musician from 1505. Alfonso I, son of Ercole, was also an important patron; his preference for instrumental music resulted in Ferrara becoming an important center of composition for the lute. The architecture of Ferrara benefitted from the genius of Biagio Rossetti, who was asked in 1484 by Ercole I to redesign the plan of the city. The resulting "Addizione Erculea" is one of the most important and beautiful examples of renaissance city planning and contributed to the selection of Ferrara as UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Alfonso married the notorious Lucrezia Borgia, and continued the war with Venice with success. In 1509 he was excommunicated by Pope Julius II, and he overcame the pontifical army in 1512 defending Ravenna. Lucrezia, together with other members of the Este house, is buried in the convent of Corpus Domini.

Gaston de Foix fell in the battle, in which he was supporting Alfonso. With the succeeding popes he was able to make peace. He was the patron of Ariosto from 1518 onwards. His son Ercole II married Renée of France, daughter of Louis XII of France; he too embellished Ferrara during his reign (1534–1559).

Torquato Tasso in the St. Ann's hospital of Ferrara, by Eugène Delacroix.

His son Alfonso II married Lucrezia, daughter of grand-duke Cosimo I of Tuscany, then Barbara, sister of the emperor Maximilian II and finally Margherita Gonzaga, daughter of the duke of Mantua. He raised the glory of Ferrara to its highest point, and was the patron of Tasso, Guarini, and Cremonini – favouring, as the princes of his house had always done, the arts and sciences. During the reign of Alfonso II, Ferrara once again developed an opulent court with an impressive musical establishment, rivaled in Italy only by the adjacent city of Venice, and the traditional musical centers such as Rome, Florence and Milan. Composers such as Luzzasco Luzzaschi, Lodovico Agostini, and later Carlo Gesualdo, represented the avant-garde tendency of the composers there, writing for gifted virtuoso performers, including the famous concerto di donne — the three virtuoso female singers Laura Peverara, Anna Guarini, and Livia d'Arco. Vincenzo Galilei praised the work of Luzzaschi, and Girolamo Frescobaldi studied with him.

The city was much affected by the 1570 Ferrara earthquake.

Alfonso had no legitimate male heir, and in 1597 Ferrara was claimed as a vacant fief by Pope Clement VIII, as was also Comacchio.

Modern history[link]

Ferrara remained a part of the Papal States from 1598 to 1859, when it became part of the Kingdom of Italy. A fortress was constructed by Pope Paul V on the site of the castle called "Castel Tedaldo", at the south-west angle of the town, that was occupied by an Austrian garrison from 1832 until 1859. All of the fortress was dismantled following the birth of the Kingdom of Italy and the bricks used for new constructions all over the town.

On August 23, 1944, the Ferrara synthetic rubber plant was a target of Strategic bombing during World War II.

Main sights[link]

The medieval walls.

The Castle Estense.

The Romanesque cathedral.

Palazzo dei Diamanti, seat of the National Gallery.

Palazzo Schifanoia.

The Certosa of Ferrara.

Piazza Ariostea.

The town is still surrounded by more than 9 kilometres of ancient walls, mainly built in the 15th and 16th centuries.^[4] Together with those of Lucca, they are the best preserved Renaissance walls in Italy.

The most iconic building of the town is the imponent Castello Estense: sited in the very centre of the town, it's a brick building surrounded by a moat, with four massive bastions. It was built starting in 1385 and partly restored in 1554; the pavilions on the top of the towers date from the latter year.

The ancient City Hall, renovated in the 18th century, was the earlier residence of the Este family. Close by it is the former Cathedral of Saint George, begun in 1135, when the Romanesque lower part of the main façade and the side façades were completed. According to a now lost inscription the church was built in 1135 by Guglielmo I of Adelardi (d. 1146), who is buried in it. The sculpture of the main portal is the signed work of the "artifex" Nicholaus, mentioned in the lost inscription as the "architect" for the church. The upper part of the main façade, with arcades of pointed arches, dates from the 13th century, while the lower part of the protiro or projecting porch and the main portal are by Nicholaus. The recumbent lions guarding the entrance are replacements of the originals, now in the narthex of the church. The elaborate reflief sculptures depicting Last Judgement gracing the second story of the porch above date from the thirteenth century. The interior was restored in the baroque style in 1712. The campanile, in the Renaissance style, dates from 1451–1493, but the last storey was added at the end of the 16th century.

A little way off is the university, which has faculties of law, architecture, pharmacy, medicine and natural science; the library has valuable manuscripts, including part of that of the Orlando furioso and letters by Tasso. Its famous graduates include Nicolaus Copernicus (1503) and Paracelsus. Near the main university facilities it raises the University of Ferrara Botanic Garden.

Ferrara has many early Renaissance palaces, often retaining terracotta decorations; few towns of Italy as small have so many, though most are comparatively small in size. Among them may be noted those in the north quarter (especially the four at the intersection of its two main streets), which was added by Ercole I in 1492–1505, from the plans of Biagio Rossetti, and hence called the Addizione Erculea.

Among the finest palaces is Palazzo dei Diamanti (Diamond Palace), named after the diamond points into which the façade's stone blocks are cut. The palazzo houses the National Picture Gallery, with a large collection of the school of Ferrara, which first rose to prominence in the latter half of the 15th century, with Cosimo Tura, Francesco Cossa and Ercole dei Roberti. Noted masters of the 16th century School of Ferrara (Painting) include Lorenzo Costa and Dosso Dossi, the most eminent of all, Girolamo da Carpi and Benvenuto Tisi (il Garofalo).

The Casa Romei is the best preserved Renaissance building in Ferrara. It was the residence of Giovanni Romei, related to Este family by marriage to Polissena d'Este and likely the work of the court architect Pietro Bono Brasavola. It did not fall into decay because it was inherited by the nuns of the Corpus Domini order who lived there without making any changes to its structure. Much of the decoration in the inner rooms has been saved. There are fresco cycles in the Sala delle Sibille (Room of Sibyls), with its original terracotta fireplace bearing the coat of arms of Giovanni Romei, in the adjoining Saletta dei Profeti (Room of the Prophets), depicting allegories from the Bible and in other rooms, some of which were commissioned by cardinal Ippolito d'Este and painted by the school of Camillo and Cesare Filippi (16th century).

The Palazzo Schifanoia (sans souci) was built in 1385 for Alberto V d'Este. The palazzo includes frescoes depicting the life of Borso d'Este, the signs of the zodiac and allegorical representations of the months. The vestibule was decorated with stucco mouldings by Domenico di Paris. The building also contains fine choir-books with miniatures and a collection of coins and Renaissance medals.

The City Historical Archives contain a relevant amount of historical documents, starting from 15th century. The Diocesan Historical Archive is more ancient, mentioned in documents in A.D. 955, and contains precious documents collected across the centuries by the clergy.

The Corpus Domini Monastery contains tombs of the House of Este, including Alfonso I, Alfonso II, Ercole I, Ercole II, as well as Lucrezia Borgia, Eleanor of Aragon, and many more.

The Ferrara Synagogue and Jewish Museum are located in the heart of the mediæval centre, close to the cathedral and the Castello Estense. This street was part of the Jewish Quarter in which the Jews were separated from the rest of the population of Ferrara from 1627 to 1859.

Other sites include:

• Piazza Ariostea
• The Communal Theatre
• The Certosa
• The church of Santa Maria in Vado
• The church of St. Luca
• The church of St. Benedict
• The church of St. Charles
• The church of St. Cristopher
• The church of St. Dominic
• The church of St. Francis
• The church of St. George
• The church of St. Paul
• The church of St. Roman
• The house of the poet Ludovico Ariosto, erected by him after 1526 and in which he died in 1532.
• The Massari gardens
• The monastery of Sant'Antionio in Polesine
• The Palace of Ludovico il Moro
• The Palazzina di Marfisa d'Este

Demographics[link]

In 2007, there were 133,591 people residing in Ferrara, of whom 46.8% were male and 53.2% were female. Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 12.28 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 26.41%. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06% (minors) and 19.94% (pensioners). The average age of Ferrara residents is 49 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Ferrara grew by 2.28%, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.85%.^[5] The current birth rate of Ferrara is 7.02 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births. Ferrara is known as being the oldest city with a population over 100,000, as well the city with lowest birth rate.

As of 2006, 95.59% of the population was Italian. The largest immigrant group was other European nations (mostly from the Ukraine, and Albania: 2.59%) North Africa: 0.51%, and East Asia: 0.39%. The city is predominantly Roman Catholic, with small Orthodox Christian adherents. The historical Jewish community is still surviving.

Jewish community[link]

The Jewish community of Ferrara is the only one in Emilia Romagna with a continuous presence from the Middle Ages to the present day. It played an important role when Ferrara enjoyed its greatest splendor in the 15th and 16th century, with the duke Ercole I d'Este. The situation of the Jews deteriorated in 1598, when the Este dynasty moved to Modena and the city came under papal control. The Jewish settlement, located in three streets forming a triangle near the cathedral, became a ghetto in 1627. Apart from a few years under Napoleon and during the 1848 revolution, the ghetto lasted until Italian unification in 1859. After racial laws of 1938 segregation was reintroduced and lasted until the end of the Nazi occupation.

In 1799, the Jewish community saved the city from sacking by troops of the Holy Roman Empire. During the spring of 1799, the city had fallen into the hands of the Republic of France, which established a small garrison there. On 15 April, Lieutenant Field Marshal Johann von Klenau approached the fortress with a modest mixed force of Austrian cavalry, artillery and infantry augmented by Italian peasant rebels, commanded by Count Antonio Bardaniand and demanded its capitulation. The commander refused. Klenau blockaded the city, leaving a small group of artillery and troops to continue the siege.^[6] For the next three days, Klenau patrolled the countryside, capturing the surrounding strategic points of Lagoscuro, Borgoforte and the Mirandola fortress. The besieged garrison made several sorties from the Saint Paul's Gate, which were repulsed by the insurgent peasants. The French attempted two rescues of the beleaguered fortress: the first, on 24 April, when a force of 400 Modenese was repulsed at Mirandola. In the second, General Montrichard tried to raise the city-blockade by advancing with a force of 4,000. Finally, at the end of the month, a column led by Pierre-Augustin Hulin reached and relieved the fortress.^[7]

Klenau took possession of the town on 21 May, and garrisoned it with a light battalion. The Jewish residents of Ferrara paid 30,000 ducats to prevent the pillage of the city by Klenau's forces; this was used to pay the wages of Gardani's troops.^[8] Although Klenau held the town, the French still possessed the town's fortress. After making the standard request for surrender at 0800, which was refused, Klenau ordered a barrage from his mortars and howitzers. After two magazines caught fire, the commandant was summoned again to surrender; there was some delay, but a flag of truce was sent at 2100, and the capitulation was concluded at 0100 the next day. Upon taking possession of the fortress, Klenau found 75 new artillery pieces, plus ammunition and six months worth of provisions.^[9]

Culture[link]

Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta *
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Country	Italy
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii, iv, v, vi
Reference	733
Region **	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1995 (19th Session)
Extensions	1999
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO

Literature[link]

The Renaissance literary men and poets Torquato Tasso (author of Jerusalem Delivered), Ludovico Ariosto (author of the romantic epic poem Orlando Furioso) and Matteo Maria Boiardo (author of the grandiose poem of chivalry and romance Orlando Innamorato), lived and worked at the court of Ferrara during the 15th and 16th century.

The Ferrara Bible was a 1553 publication of the Ladino version of the Tanach used by Sephardi Jews. It was paid for and made by Yom-Tob ben Levi Athias (the Spanish Marrano Jerónimo de Vargas, as typographer) and Abraham ben Salomon Usque (the Portuguese Jew Duarte Pinhel, as translator), and was dedicated to Ercole II d'Este. In the 20th century Ferrara was the home and workplace of writer Giorgio Bassani, well known for his novels that were often adapted for cinema (The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, Long Night in 1943). In historical fiction, British author Sarah Dunant set her 2009 novel Sacred Hearts in a convent in Ferrara.

Painting[link]

During the Renaissance, the House of Este, well known for its partonage of the arts, welcomed a great number of artists, especially painters, that formed the so-called School of Ferrara. The astounding list of painters and artists includes the names of Andrea Mantegna, Vicino da Ferrara, Giovanni Bellini, Leon Battista Alberti, Pisanello, Piero della Francesca, Battista Dossi, Dosso Dossi, Cosmé Tura, Francesco del Cossa and Titian. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Ferrara hosted and inspired a number of important painters who grew fond of its eerie atmosphere: among them Giovanni Boldini, Filippo de Pisis and Giorgio de Chirico.

Religion[link]

Ferrara gave birth to Girolamo Savonarola, the famous medieval Dominican priest and leader of Florence from 1494 until his execution in 1498. He was known for his book burning, destruction of what he considered immoral art, and hostility to the Renaissance. He vehemently preached against the moral corruption of much of the clergy at the time, and his main opponent was Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia).

Music[link]

The Ferrarese musician Girolamo Frescobaldi was one of the most important composers of keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. His masterpiece Fiori musicali (Musical Flowers) is a collection of liturgical organ music first published in 1635. It became the most famous of Frescobaldi's works and was studied centuries after his death by numerous composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach.^[10][11] Maurizio Moro (15??—16??) an Italian poet of the 16th century best known for madrigals is thought to have been born in Ferrara.

Cinema[link]

Ferrara is the birthplace and childhood home of the well-known Italian film director, Michelangelo Antonioni. The town of Ferrara was also the setting of the famous film The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Vittorio De Sica in (1970), that tells the vicissitudes of a rich Jewish family during the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini and World War II. Furthermore, Wim Wenders and Michelangelo Antonioni's Beyond the Clouds in (1995) and Ermanno Olmi's The Profession of Arms in (2001), a film about the last days of Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, were also shot in Ferrara.

Corso Ercole I d'Este, Street in the Renaissance town center of Ferrara, Italy

Festivals[link]

The Palio of St. George is a typical medieval festival held every last Sunday of May. The Buskers Festival is a non-competitive parade of the best street musicians in the world. In terms of tradition and dimension it is the most important festival in the world of this kind. Additionally, Ferrara is becoming the Italian capital of hot air balloons, thanks to the ten-day-long Ferrara Balloons Festival, the biggest celebration of balloons in Italy and one of the largest in Europe.

Sport[link]

Ferrara's local football team, Società Polisportiva Ars Et Labor 1907 is going to play in Lega Pro Prima Divisione (former Serie C1), which is the third highest football league in Italy. The local basketball team, Carife Ferrara, have been doing considerably better; they won the 2007-08 title in the second-level LegADue, thereby earning promotion to Serie A. The city is hosting the Ferrara Marathon since 1979.

Culinary tradition[link]

The cooking tradition of the town is characterized by many typical dishes that can be traced back to the Middle Ages and reveals in some instances the influence of the important Jewish community. The signature first course is cappellacci di zucca, a kind of ravioli with a filling of butternut squash, Parmigiano-Reggiano and flavored with nutmeg. It is served with a sauce of butter and sage. The traditional Christmas first dish is cappelletti, meat-filled ravioli served in chicken broth or with a white sauce made from cream and, optionally, local truffles. A peculiar first dish is the pasticcio di maccheroni, a domed macaroni pie, consisting of a crust of sweet dough enclosing macaroni in a Béchamel sauce, studded with porcini mushrooms and ragù bolognese. The second course that is a must of the Christmas table is the Salama da sugo, a one-year old dry salami made from a special selection of pork meat, spices and red wine. Seafood is an important part of the town tradition, due to the vicinity to the sea, and grilled or stewed eel from the river Po delta is especially appreciated. In the Ferrara's pantry you can also find a kosher salami, made of goose meat stuffed in goose neck skin. The Christmas traditional dessert is a chocolat pie, the pampepato, and the zuppa inglese. The clay terroir of the area, an alluvial plain created by the river Po, is not ideal for wine; a notable exception is the Vini del Bosco Eliceo (DOC), made from grapes cultivated on the sandy coast line. The typical bread, called coppia ferrarese, has been awarded the IGP (Protected Geographical Status) label .

Transport[link]

Ferrara railway station, opened in 1862, forms part of the Padua–Bologna railway. It is also a terminus of three secondary railways, linking Modena with Ravenna and Rimini, Suzzara, and Codigoro, respectively. The station is located at Piazzale della Stazione, at the northwestern edge of the city centre.

International relations[link]

Twin towns — Sister cities[link]

Ferrara is twinned with:

Politics[link]

The last municipal elections was held on June 21 and 22, 2009, resulting in the election of Tiziano Tagliani (Democratic Party) as Mayor of the city of Ferrara. The division of the 40 seats in the city council is as followed:

• Democratic Party - 21
• The People of Freedom - 8
• Lega Nord - 2
• Italy of Values - 1
• Laici Riformisti - 1
• Sinistra Aperta per Ferrara - 1

Notes[link]

References[link]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

• Acerbi, Enrico. "The 1799 Campaign in Italy: Klenau and Ott Vanguards and the Coalition’s Left Wing April - June 1799". Napoleon Series, Robert Burnham, editor in chief. March 2008. Accessed 30 October 2009.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ferrara

• Official Tourism Office Site - in six languages
• Official website
• Search engine and index of websites related to Ferrara
• The Comunale Theatre
• Ferrara Balloons Festival - the biggest Hot Air Balloons Fiesta in Italy
• Ferrara Under the Stars - The most important Italian summer music festival
• Ferrara Buskers' Festival
• Palazzo dei Diamanti - Ferrara National Museum of Art
• The University of Ferrara
• Local Newspaper

v t e World Heritage Sites in Italy North West Crespi d'Adda Genoa Mantua and Sabbioneta Portovenere Cinque Terre (Monterosso al Mare Vernazza Corniglia Manarola Riomaggiore), Palmaria Tino and Tinetto Residences of the Royal House of Savoy Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes1 Rock Drawings in Valcamonica Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan Monte San Giorgio North East Aquileia Botanical Garden, Padua Cathedral Torre Civica and Piazza Grande, Modena The Dolomites Ferrara Ravenna Venice Verona Vicenza and Palladian Villas of the Veneto Centre Assisi Cerveteri and Tarquinia Florence Hadrian's Villa Piazza del Duomo, Pisa Pienza Rome2 San Gimignano Siena Urbino Val d'Orcia Villa d'Este South Alberobello Amalfi Coast Castel del Monte Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park Paestum and Velia Certosa di Padula Naples Palace of Caserta Aqueduct of Vanvitelli and San Leucio Complex Pompeii Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata Sassi of Matera Islands Aeolian Islands Archaeological Area of Agrigento Barumini nuraghes Syracuse and Necropolis of Pantalica Val di Noto (Caltagirone Militello in Val di Catania Catania Modica Noto Palazzolo Acreide Ragusa Scicli) Villa Romana del Casale Nationwide Longobards in Italy, Places of Power (568-774 A.D.) Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps3 1 Shared with Switzerland 2 Shared with the Holy See 3 Shared with Austria, France, Germany, Slovenia, and Switzerland

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola

Portrait from the Uffizi Gallery, in Florence.
Born	(1463-02-24)24 February 1463 Mirandola, Italy
Died	17 November 1494(1494-11-17) (aged 31) Italy
Era	Renaissance philosophy
Region	Western Philosophers
School	Renaissance philosophy
Main interests	Politics, history, religion magic
Influenced by Plato, Marsilio Ficino, Aristotle, Pseudo-Dionysius, Neoplatonism, Nicholas of Cusa, Kabbalah
Influenced John Colet, Erasmus, Sir Thomas More

Count Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (Italian pronunciation: [dʒoˈvanni ˈpiko della miˈrandola]; 24 February 1463 – 17 November 1494) was an Italian Renaissance philosopher.^[1] He is famed for the events of 1486, when at the age of 23, he proposed to defend 900 theses on religion, philosophy, natural philosophy and magic against all comers, for which he wrote the famous Oration on the Dignity of Man, which has been called the "Manifesto of the Renaissance",^[2] and a key text of Renaissance humanism and of what has been called the “Hermetic Reformation."^[3]

Family[link]

Giovanni was born at Mirandola, near Modena, the youngest son of Francesco I, Lord of Mirandola and Count of Concordia (1415–1467), by his wife Giulia, daughter of Feltrino Boiardo, Count di Scandiano.^[4] The family had long dwelt in the Castle of Mirandola (Duchy of Modena), which had become independent in the fourteenth century and had received in 1414 from the Emperor Sigismund the fief of Concordia. Mirandola was a small autonomous county (later, a duchy) in Emilia, near Ferrara. The Pico della Mirandola were closely related to the Sforza, Gonzaga and Este dynasties, and Giovanni's siblings wed the scions of the hereditary rulers of Corsica, Ferrara, Bologna and Forlì.^[4]

Born twenty-three years into his parents' marriage, Giovanni had two much older brothers, both of whom outlived him: Count Galeotto I (1442–1499) continued the dynasty, while Antonio (1444–1501) became a general in the Imperial army.^[4] The Pico family would reign as dukes until Mirandola, an ally of Louis XIV of France, was conquered by his rival, Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1708 and annexed to Modena by Duke Rinaldo d'Este, the exiled male line becoming extinct in 1747.^[5]

Giovanni's maternal family was singularly distinguished in the arts and scholarship of the Italian Renaissance. His cousin and contemporary was the poet Matteo Maria Boiardo, who grew up under the influence of his own uncle, the Florentine patron of the arts and scholar-poet, Tito Vespasiano Strozzi.^[6]

Education[link]

A precocious child with an amazing memory, Giovanni was schooled in Latin, and possibly Greek, at a very early age. Intended for the Church by his mother, he was named a papal protonotary at the age of ten and in 1477 he went to Bologna to study canon law.^[7]

At the sudden death of his mother three years later, Pico renounced canon law and began to study philosophy at the University of Ferrara.^[7] During a brief trip to Florence, he met Angelo Poliziano, the courtly poet Girolamo Benivieni, and probably the young Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola. For the rest of his life he remained very close friends with all three, including the ascetic and violently anti-humanist Savonarola.^{[citation needed][8]}

Pico della Mirandola.

From 1480 to 1482, he continued his studies at the University of Padua, a major center of Aristotelianism in Italy.^[7] Already proficient in Latin and Greek, he studied Hebrew and Arabic in Padua with Elia del Medigo, a Jewish Averroist, and read Aramaic manuscripts with him as well. Del Medigo also translated Judaic manuscripts from Hebrew into Latin for Pico, as he would continue to do for a number of years. Pico also wrote sonnets in Latin and Italian, which because of the influence of Savonarola, he destroyed at the end of his life.

He spent the next four years either at home, or visiting humanist centres elsewhere in Italy. In 1485 he travelled to the University of Paris, the most important centre in the whole of Europe for Scholastic philosophy and theology, and a hotbed of secular Averroism. It was probably in Paris that Giovanni began his 900 Theses and conceived the idea of defending them in public debate.

Florence[link]

During this time two life-changing events occurred. The first was when he returned to settle for a time in Florence in November 1484 and met Lorenzo de' Medici and Marsilio Ficino, on the astrologically auspicious day Ficino had chosen to publish his translations of the works of Plato from Greek into Latin under Lorenzo’s enthusiastic patronage. Giovanni appears to have charmed both men immensely, with Ficino endeared, despite continuing philosophical differences, convinced of their Saturnine affinity and the divine provenance of his arrival. Until his death in 1492 Lorenzo supported and protected Giovanni. Without Lorenzo's support it is doubtful that Pico would have survived even the 10 more years that he did.

Soon after this stay in Florence, Pico was travelling on his way to Rome where he intended to publish his 900 Theses and prepare for a “Congress” of scholars from all over Europe to debate them. Stopping in Arezzo he became embroiled in a love affair with the wife of one of Lorenzo de’ Medici’s cousins. It almost cost him his life. Giovanni attempted to run off with the woman, but he was caught, wounded and thrown into prison by her husband. He was released only upon the intervention of Lorenzo himself. The incident is wholly representative of Pico's often audacious temperament and of the loyalty and affection he nevertheless could inspire.

Pico spent several months in Perugia and nearby Fratta, recovering from his injuries. It was there, as he wrote to Ficino, that "divine Providence [...] caused certain books to fall into my hands. They are Chaldean books [...] of Esdras, of Zoroaster and of Melchior, oracles of the magi, which contain a brief and dry interpretation of Chaldean philosophy, but full of mystery."^[9] It was also in Perugia that Pico was introduced to the mystical Hebrew Kabbalah, which fascinated him, as did the late Classical Hermetic writers, such as Hermes Trismegistus. The Kabbalah and the Hermetica were thought in Pico's time to be as ancient as the Old Testament, and for that reason, he accorded them an almost scriptural status. It was always Pico's intention to walk completely around a topic and look at it from many possible angles, in order to derive the truest possible vision of the thing itself. Syncretism, for Pico, was seeing the same absolute from many different points of view, a Scholastic approach with a strong modern resonance.

Pico based his ideas chiefly on Plato, as did his teacher, Marsilio Ficino, but retained a deep respect for Aristotle. Although he was a product of the studia humanitatis, Pico was constitutionally an eclectic, and in some respects he represented a reaction against the exaggerations of pure humanism, defending what he believed to be the best of the medieval and Islamic commentators (see Averroes, Avicenna) on Aristotle in a famous long letter to Ermolao Barbaro in 1485. It was always Pico’s aim to reconcile the schools of Plato and Aristotle, since he believed they both used different words to express the same concepts. It was perhaps for this reason his friends called him "Princeps Concordiae, or "Prince of Harmony" (a pun on Prince of Concordia, one of his family’s holdings.^[10]) Similarly, Pico believed an educated person should also study the Hebrew and Talmudic sources, and the Hermetics, because he believed they represented the same view seen in the Old Testament, in different words, of God.

He finished his Oration on the Dignity of Man to accompany his 900 Theses and traveled to Rome to continue his plan to defend them. He had them published in December 1486 (Conclusiones philosophicae, cabalasticae et theologicae, Rome, 1486) and offered to pay the expenses of any scholars who came to Rome to debate them publicly.

In February 1487, Pope Innocent VIII halted the proposed debate, and established a commission to review the orthodoxy of the Theses. Although Pico answered the charges against them, thirteen of the Theses were condemned. Pico agreed in writing to retract them, but he did not change his mind about their validity, and proceeded to write an Apologia ("Apologia J. Pici Mirandolani, Concordiae comitis" published in 1489) defending them, dedicated to Lorenzo. When the Pope was apprised of the circulation of this manuscript, he set up an inquisitorial tribunal, forcing Pico to renounce the Apologia as well which he also agreed to do.

Nevertheless, the Pope declared his Theses unorthodox calling them "in part heretical, in part the flower of heresy; several are scandalous and offensive to pious ears; most do nothing but reproduce the errors of pagan philosophers...others are capable of inflaming the impertinence of the Jews; a number of them, finally, under the pretext of "natural philosophy", favor arts that are enemies to the Catholic faith and to the human race."^[11] One of Pico’s detractors maintained that "Kabbala" was the name of an impious writer against Jesus Christ.^{[citation needed]}

Pico fled to France in 1488, where he was arrested by Philip II of Savoy, at the demand of the papal nuncios, and imprisoned at Vincennes. Through the intercession of several Italian princes—all instigated by Lorenzo de' Medici—King Charles VIII had him released, and the Pope was persuaded to allow Pico to move to Florence and to live under Lorenzo’s protection. But he was not cleared of the papal censures and restrictions until 1493, after the accession of Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia) to the papacy.

Pico was deeply shaken by the experience. He reconciled with Savonarola, who remained a very close friend. It was at Pico’s persuasion that Lorenzo invited Savonarola to Florence. But Pico never renounced his syncretist convictions.

He settled in a villa near Fiesole prepared for him by Lorenzo, where he wrote and published the Heptaplus id est de Dei creatoris opere (1489) and De Ente et Uno (Of Being and Unity, 1491). It was here that he also wrote his other most celebrated work, the Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinicatrium (Treatise Against Astrology), which was not published until after his death. In it, Pico acidly condemned the practices of the astrologers of his day, and shredded the intellectual basis of astrology itself. Pico was interested in high magic that enhanced man's dignity and strengthened his will. There was no room in such a concept for the determinism of the stars.

After the death of Lorenzo de' Medici, in 1492, Pico moved to Ferrara, although he continued to visit Florence. In Florence, political instability gave rise to the increasing influence of Savonarola, whose reactionary opposition to Renaissance expansion and style had already brought about conflict with the Medici family (they eventually were expelled from Florence) and would lead to the wholesale destruction of books and paintings. Nevertheless, Pico became a follower of Savonarola. Determined to become a monk, he dismissed his former interest in Egyptian and Chaldean texts, destroyed his own poetry and gave away his fortune.^[12]

Pico died under very mysterious circumstances in 1494. It was rumored that his own secretary had poisoned him, because Pico had become too close to Savonarola.^[11] He was interred at San Marco and Savonarola delivered the funeral oration. Ficino wrote: “Our dear Pico left us on the same day that Charles VIII was entering Florence, and the tears of men of letters compensated for the joy of the people. Without the light brought by the king of France, Florence might perhaps have never seen a more somber day than that which extinguished Mirandola’s light.”^[11]

In 2007, the bodies of Poliziano and Pico della Mirandola were exhumed from St. Mark's Basilica in Florence. Scientists under the supervision of Giorgio Gruppioni, a professor of anthropology from Bologna, will use current testing techniques to study the men's lives and establish the causes of their deaths. A TV documentary is being made of this research,^[13] and it was recently announced that these forensic tests showed that both Poliziano and Pico likely died of arsenic poisoning, probably at the order of Lorenzo's successor, Piero de' Medici.^[14]

Writings[link]

In the De hominis dignitate (Oration on the Dignity of Man, 1486), Pico justified the importance of the human quest for knowledge within a Neoplatonic framework.

The Oration also served as an introduction to Pico's 900 theses, which he believed to provide a complete and sufficient basis for the discovery of all knowledge, and hence a model for mankind's ascent of the chain of being. The 900 Theses are a good example of humanist syncretism, because Pico combined Platonism, Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism, Hermeticism and Kabbalah. They also included 72 theses describing what Pico believed to be a complete system of physics.

Mirandola's De animae immortalitate (Paris, 1541), and other works developed the view that man's possession of an immortal soul freed him from the hierarchical stasis. Pico may have believed in either universal reconciliation since one of his 900 theses was "A mortal sin of finite duration is not deserving of eternal but only of temporal punishment;" it was among the theses pronounced heretical by Pope Innocent VIII in his bull of Aug. 4, 1487.^[15] In the Oration he writes that "human vocation is a mystical vocation that has to be realized following a three stage way, which comprehends necessarily moral transformation, intellectual research and final perfection in the identity with the absolute reality. This paradigm is universal, because it can be retraced in every tradition."^[16]

A portion of his Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem was published in Bologna after his death. In this book Pico presents arguments against the practice of astrology that have had enormous resonance for centuries, up to our own time. Disputationes is influenced by the arguments against astrology espoused by one of his intellectual heroes, St. Augustine of Hippo, and also by ideas held by his teacher, Marsilio Ficino, who may have encouraged him to write it. Pico’s antagonism to astrology seems to derive mainly from the conflict of astrology with Christian notions of free will. But Pico’s arguments moved beyond the objections of Ficino (who was himself an astrologer). The manuscript was edited for publication after Pico’s death by his nephew, an ardent follower of Savonarola, and may possibly have been amended to be more forcefully critical. This might possibly explain the fact that Ficino championed the manuscript and enthusiastically endorsed it before its publication.

Pico’s Heptaplus, a mystico-allegorical exposition of the creation according to the seven Biblical senses, elaborates on his idea that different religions and traditions describe the same God. De ente et uno, has explanations of several passages in Moses, Plato and Aristotle.

He wrote in Italian an imitation of Plato's Symposium. His letters (Aureae ad familiares epistolae, Paris, 1499) are important for the history of contemporary thought. The many editions of his entire works in the sixteenth century sufficiently prove his influence.

Another notorious text by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola is De omnibus rebus et de quibusdam aliis, "of all things that exist and a little more" which is mentioned in some entries on Thomas More's Utopia and makes fun of the title of Lucretius' "De Rerum Natura".

Cultural references[link]

In James Joyce's Ulysses, the precocious Stephen Dedalus recalls with disdain his boyhood ambitions, and apparently associates them with the career of Mirandola: "Remember your epiphanies written on green oval leaves, deeply deep...copies to be sent if you died to all the great libraries of the world...Pico della Mirandola like."^[17]

Of minor interest is a passing reference to Mirandola by H. P. Lovecraft, in the story The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (1927). Mirandola is given as the source of the fearsome incantation used by unknown evil entities as some sort of evocation. However, this "spell" was first depicted (as the key to a rather simple form of divination, not a great and terrible summoning) by, and in all likelihood created by, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim in his Three Books of Occult Philosophy. This was written several decades after Mirandola's death and was the first written example of that "spell", so it is almost impossible for Mirandola to have been the source of those "magic words".

Psychologist, Otto Rank, a rebellious disciple of Sigmund Freud, chose a substantial excerpt from Mirandola's Oration on the Dignity of Man as the motto for his book Art and Artist: Creative Urge and Personality Development, including: "...I created thee as a being neither celestial nor earthly... so that thou shouldst be thy own free moulder and overcomer...".^[18]

In Umberto Eco's novel Foucault's Pendulum the protagonist Casaubon claims that the idea that the Jews were privy to the enigma of the Templars was "a mistake of Pico Della Mirandola" caused by a spelling mistake he made between "Israelites" and "Ismaelites."

Philosopher of social science René Girard mentions Mirandola passingly in his book Des choses cachées depuis la fondation du monde Things hidden since the foundation of the world, Girard writes in a disparaging tone, "People will accuse us of playing at being Pico della Mirandola-the renaissance man-certainly a temptation to be resisted today, if we wish to be seen in a favourable light." (p. 141, 1987)

In Roberto Bolaño's novel 2666, the philosophy professor Oscar Amalfitano begins his three-columned list of philosophers with Pico della Mirandola. Adjacent to Mirandola, Amalfitano writes Hobbes, while beneath him he writes Husserl (p. 207, 2008).

In Frédéric Lenoir's novel "L'Oracle della Luna" (2006) the philosophy of Pico della Mirandola forms one of the major teachings acquired by the protagonist, Giovanni, from his main spiritual Master. The year is 1530. The major mentions are:

• at the end of Chapter 21 the sage - a fictitious character - says he has personally met Pico della Mirandola and discusses Mirandola's disagreement with the pope about the 900 Theses (with Lenoir stating that only 7 of them had not been accepted) and the philosopher's later fate. In the words of the sage, the main goal of Ficino and Pico della Mirandola was to acquire universal knowledge, free from prejudice and from linguistic and religious barriers;
• at the end of Chapter 24, having discussed Luther's concept of free will, the sage wants the acquaint Giovanni with Mirandola's ideas on this issue and lets him read "De hominis dignitate"; Giovanni peruses the book with great interest in Chapter 25;
• at the beginning of Chapter 26, with Giovanni having now read the Oration on the Dignity of Man, the sage discusses two issues from the book with him. One is Pico della Mirandola's attempt to form one unified and universal philosophy and the difficulties thereof. The other one is Mirandola's concept of free will. Giovanni has learnt one passage from the book by heart, about God addressing man and telling him, that He has made him neither a heavenly nor an earthly creature and that man is the forger of his own fate. This passage is quoted in the novel.

See also[link]

Platonic Academy (Florence)

References[link]

Footnotes[link]

Bibliography and further reading[link]

External links[link]

• The Pico Project at the University of Bologna and Brown University is a project to make accessible a complete resource for the reading and interpretation of the Dignity of Man.
• Oration on the Dignity of Man, translated by A. Robert Caponigri (Chicago: Regnery Publishing, 1956).
• Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem [2]
• Syncretism in the West Overview of the 900 Theses, with some downloadable texts
• Pico in English: A Bibliography, the works of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494), with a List of Studies and Commentaries.
• Edition of the complete translations by Flavius Mithridates On Flavius Mithridates' Hebrew-Latin Translations of kabbalistic works for Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
• (French) Biography
• Pico della Mirandola by Richard Hooker, 6 June 1999.
•  "Giovanni Pico della Mirandola". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
• Giovanni Pico della Mirandola entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• 999lultimocustode.com
• Life of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Giovanni Pico della Mirandola". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.